some weird non commercial midichlorian movie.
That’s not the sequel trilogy that Lucas pitched. He’s had four entirely separate ideas for STs (that we know about, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were many more we don’t know about), and chronologically, it seems like that’s the second one of the four.
I see Star Wars in general as being a ‘band effort’ rather than the sole vision of one man. Yes, SW is/was Lucas’ creation, but the input of folks like Kurtz, Dykstra, MacQuarrie, Johnston, Burt, Marcia Lucas, Kershner, Kasdan etc etc really helped shape this universe significantly. If anything I see the PT as the equivalent of Mick Jagger reforming the Stones with an all-new lineup. So I don’t buy into the ‘George as canon’ thing at all. A Lucas-ST probably would’ve sucked.
I 100% agree, and that’s probably the best explanation why I prefer the sequels to the prequels. The ST was made by fans, and while the fans have some pretty crazy ideas of what Star Wars is, they have a more holistic view. The prequels were just George Lucas putting in his own contribution, lacking everyone else’s vision which made Star Wars what it is.